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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26494171">Ice Cream Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChillyHollow/pseuds/ChillyHollow'>ChillyHollow</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crossover, Doctor Who References, Gen, Ice Cream, Tenth Doctor Era</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:00:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,814</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26494171</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChillyHollow/pseuds/ChillyHollow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Robin suspects Matthew is cheating. While she ponders this, she meets someone at work.  Lots of ice cream.<br/>SPOILER FREE</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Matthew Cunliffe/Robin Ellacott, Robin Ellacott/Cormoran Strike</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ice Cream Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A thin man in red athletic shoes and blue pinstriped suit with skinny tie and slightly spiky brown hair had smiled at her as she sat in the courtyard eating her sandwich.He didn’t smile in a creepy way, just gave Robin a sort of friendly smile and nod.She watched him walk toward her building and disappear inside as she finished eating.She didn’t head immediately back to work as she had nearly a half an hour before she had to report back to the office.All she’d be doing was typing reports and updating spreadsheets all afternoon anyway.It wasn’t the worst temp job she’d had, but it was also far from the best,so she didn’t rush back to work, just sat in the sunshine, thinking about life and whether she was right that her boyfriend was cheating on her.Perhaps she was just being paranoid as she didn’t much like London.It was loud and busy and people weren’t friendly.It wasn’t at all like rural Yorkshire where she had grown up.</p><p>She sat there, trying to figure out whether Matt was cheating or whether it was just her vivid imagination at work.She could tell Matt that she had a Saturday morning job interview, then hide at the coffee shop across the street and see if he left their flat.She could pretend that she had chores and would have to miss his rugby game but follow him and see where he went after it.She supposed she might hire a private detective to find out.She had enough saved up if they weren’t too expensive.She had no idea how to find a good one, though.She could simply do nothing because if he was cheating, he’d eventually slip up.Matthew wasn’t the cleverest man in London.She knew that.Robin sighed.</p><p>The man with the suit and trainers came back outside again.He stopped and bought an ice cream from the food truck, then looked around to find a seat.Robin had a sudden impulse to be friendly, so she gestured for him to come sit at her table.He did so.Up close he was older than he looked at a distance.He smiled at her again, but there was something sad in his eyes.He looked like a cross between a junior solicitor and an IT guy.“Hi,” Robin said.“What flavor did you get?”</p><p>“Banana,” her new friend said.“Not bad.” </p><p>“I’m Robin.”</p><p>“Hi, Robin,” he said between licks at his rapidly melting cone.“Come here often?”</p><p>“Just at lunch time.I’m a temp.”</p><p>“I’m temporary, too.I’ll be off soon.”</p><p>“Can I ask you something?” </p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>“How do you go about hiring a private detective?”</p><p>The man in the suit studied her, still eating his ice cream cone.“I’ve never hired one,” he admitted.“If I want to find out something, I just ask.”</p><p>“I can’t do that,” Robin explained.“I want to know if my boyfriend is cheating on me and if I ask him, he’ll say no whether he is or not.”</p><p>“Oh,” he said, pondering.“You know, I parked near a private detective’s office this morning.You could ask him to find out for you.”</p><p>“There’s one in this area?"</p><p>"Not right here, over about five blocks on Denmark Street.”</p><p>“No closer place to park?”</p><p>“No, but I don’t mind walking. Get to see more of London that way.”</p><p>“I’m kind of fed up with London at the moment.”</p><p>“Want to travel?” he asked her.</p><p>“Well, yes, but my boyfriend works in London, so….”</p><p>“If he’s cheating on you, then you can go anywhere.No obligation then.You can suit yourself.”</p><p>“I know.It’s a little bit scary.”</p><p>“Scary never stopped me,” he observed. </p><p>“My family wouldn’t like for me to go very far.”</p><p>“I don’t have family.I’m the last of my people.”</p><p>“Sorry.”</p><p>“Sometimes you have to take a chance, Robin.” </p><p>“Ok, I’ll go see the private detective.Better to know, right?”</p><p>“Always better to know in my experience.”</p><p>“Will you walk over and show me where his office is after work?If you have time.”</p><p>He seemed to think this over.“I can do that.I have all the time in the universe.Meet up here at 5 p.m.?”</p><p>“Ok.”</p><p>“I can get another ice cream then,” he said happily.</p><p>By five p.m. Robin didn’t know whether she was going to see the private detective or not.She hadn't made up her mind, but she would see whether her new friend in the suit was in the courtyard or not.One step at a time, she thought.She didn’t know his name, the man in the suit and tennis shoes.She should ask.She walked out of the office and looked around the courtyard.The food truck was gone, but they must have just left because her new friend was standing there eating a second ice cream cone. </p><p>“What flavor this time?” she asked when she got close to him.</p><p>“Mint chocolate chip,” he said happily.This time he had a brown duster style coat over his suit.His hair was still untidy and spiky; his eyes were still sad but kind.They walked together to the other exit and headed out onto the sidewalk toward the train station along with hundreds of other people.“Five blocks,” he said to her unasked question.“Two to the station, then three this way.He waved his ice cream cone vaguely toward the south. </p><p>“What’s your name?” she asked her companion.</p><p>“Me?I’m The Doctor.”She wondered if that was his IT company name.She’d seen a truck with “PC Doctor” on its sides around somewhere recently.</p><p>“No first name?”</p><p>“Nope,” he said, dodging a fat woman who was barreling along, three big shopping bags swinging from her large fleshy arms.“Just The Doctor.”Talking got harder as they were walking the wrong way through crowds streaming toward the train station they’d just passed.Robin found herself a little behind her companion and lengthened her stride to catch up.They were moving into an area of small music and guitar shops, with a few restaurants and bars here and there.It was a short street but apparently their destination was half way down the block.The Doctor pointed at a sign that read 12 Bar Cafe."The door next to the 12 Bar.”</p><p>It was a discreet door, marked only by the number 26.She felt suddenly shy.“Where are you parked, Doctor?”</p><p>“Just through the alley on the other side of the 12 Bar.”</p><p>“Can you come with me?” she asked, trying not to sound as scared as she felt.</p><p>He looked at her and smiled.“Ok.”He pushed a button by the door and a voice said, “Yeah?”</p><p>“Miss Robin Ellacott to see Mr. Cormoran Strike.”The buzzer buzzed, unlocking the door.The Doctor opened the door for Robin, who was wondering how on earth he’d known her full name.Of course IT personnel knew all sorts of things.They could look all throughout the company systems if they wanted and apparently he had taken the time this afternoon to check up on her.</p><p>She straightened her shoulders and marched up an ornate but old cast iron staircase.The first landing held the office of a graphic designer.Robin kept going, with her new friend right behind her.The second landing had a little bathroom, and two other closed doors.One was unlabeled, the other had a sign that said “C.B. Strike, Private Detective.” </p><p>It dawned on Robin that there was nothing on the exterior of the building to say this was the abode of a private detective, or what his first name was.She looked at her companion, wondering once again how he knew names but he just smiled at her and knocked on the door of what apparently was Cormoran Strike’s office.“Come in.The door’s unlocked,” said a rough masculine voice.</p><p>The Doctor opened the door for her, politely allowing her to proceed him into a small office.The detective was standing at a small kitchen counter, adding water to a tea kettle.He looked them over, frowning.He was a tall, broad man who was a good ten years older than Robin.He had unruly dark hair and a short beard to match and had watchful eyes.He looked them both over again, then asked “Tea?”</p><p>Her companion answered for them both.“Yes please. Two sugars for me but milk only for Miss Ellacott.”Robin stared at him.How did he knew how she liked her tea?The Doctor sat on the leather couch so Robin sat down next to him.</p><p>The tall detective added tea bags to three mugs and poured water over them.He dumped two sugar packets into one mug and stirred the contents, then got a small milk carton from a refrigerator under the counter and added milk to the other two.He handed Robin her tea first, then gave The Doctor his.The tall man picked up the last tea and sipped from it, watching them from over his mug, as he leaned against the kitchen counter.</p><p>Robin decided it was up to her to move things forward.She cleared her throat.“I’m Robin Ellacott.I think my boyfriend is cheating on me.The Doctor here saw your sign when he parked today and suggested I consult you.” </p><p>The tall man looked them both over again, then said, “I don’t have a sign.Not outside anyway.”</p><p>“Doesn’t matter.What matters is finding out the truth for Robin here,” The Doctor said.The tall man looked them over some more and then shrugged.He told them his rates.Robin agreed to them, so the tall man, Cormoran Strike his name was, sat down at the secretarial desk, pulled out a pad and pencil, and started asking Robin questions.She gave him her flat’s address and showed him a photo of Matt from her phone.Strike pulled out his own phone and took a photo of her screen.She told him when she thought Matt might be cheating on her.“The most likely time is on the weekends when I am grocery shopping or if he is lying about weekend rugby games or practices.”</p><p>Strike told her that given it was only Tuesday he wouldn’t be able to tell her anything until next Monday after he watched Matt while she shopped Saturday and he was at rugby practice and again during and after the Sunday game.The Doctor interrupted him.“We can go now.”</p><p>Robin shook her head.“Matt will be heading home now.Rugby practice isn’t until Saturday after lunch.” </p><p>“No problem.I can take us to Saturday if you like.My ride is just downstairs.”</p><p>Robin stared at him.Strike looked him over.“You aren’t serious.What’s your name again?”</p><p>“I’m The Doctor.And I’m always serious, unless I’m doing practical jokes, which is normally every Thursday at nine thirty a.m.It’s Tuesday and it is five forty-three p.m.”The Doctor stood and said, “Come on now.No time like the present.”He opened the office door and started down the stairs. Robin and Strike looked at each other, then Robin rose and followed the lunatic.At least she could make sure he was ok.</p><p>Strike was right behind her.She looked over her shoulder at him on the stairs and he said, “I’m not leaving you alone with a crazy person.”She was glad to have a bit of company, although she wasn’t afraid of The Doctor.He seemed harmless….</p><p>At the foot of the stairs they went out through the exterior door onto the sidewalk. The Doctor was nowhere in sight.Robin turned left.He’d told her his ride was through the alley, so she headed past the 12 Bar and found the passage just where he’d said it was.She turned left again into the dark and grubby tunnel, posters for bands and concerts and take-out restaurants plastered all over the walls, and came out into the back of the buildings lining Denmark Street.There was a big garbage dumpster, and small metal trash cans lined up next to an old blue police call box.The door to the call box was just closing.Robin marched right up to it and opened the door to the little box despite Strike saying behind her, “Wait!”</p><p>Robin came to a halt, stopping so abruptly that Strike banged into her back.He grabbed her shoulder in one big hand to keep her from knocking her over.The little police box was huge inside.The walls were golden panels that curved up a bit to meet at a high dome of a ceiling. There were tree trunk-like golden metallic supports around the walls.The center of the space had a sort of glowing tube filled with blue-green liquid with a console circling around it.The Doctor was standing at the console’s keyboard, typing something.He was muttering, “Next Saturday, around 12:30 in the afternoon, would you say?”</p><p>Strike had both hands on Robin’s shoulders now, holding her back, keeping her from getting too close to The Doctor or the console.He was looking all around, his eyes glittering with interest, but he was keeping her away from any danger. Robin looked at The Doctor, who was now standing watching them, his hands in the pockets of his brown duster, feet apart, just watching. </p><p>“Are you coming?” he asked them.Robin nodded.She reached up and took Strike’s big hand off her shoulder and pulled him down the railed walkway from the open door to the center of the space.The Doctor turned back to his console and pushed something.A loud grinding noise startled Robin and the room lurched a bit.The door to the outside closed of its own accord.Robin grabbed the railing that partly surrounded the console space to keep upright.Strike did the same, although he didn’t let go of her hand to keep her close to him.The Doctor held to the console.The center tube was moving up and down.Well, it wasn’t moving exactly—it was more pulsing, the liquid moving slightly.Robin had the feeling that the entire police box was actually alive.She sensed a presence.She looked at Strike, who was looking grim, but interested.He looked down at her and smiled slightly to reassure her. </p><p>The Doctor watched the screen on his console.The noise suddenly stopped.The Doctor gave a satisfied grunt, and headed for the door which opened at his approach.Robin and Strike followed him out.They were no longer in the dark alley behind Denmark Street.They were in the sunshine across the street from Robin’s flat.Strike looked around the street, then back at the blue police box.It appeared just as small from the outside as before.It was sitting in the gap between two brick buildings, looking innocent. </p><p>Robin caught sight of the newspapers in the newspaper box. The date was next Saturday.She nudged Strike and pointed.He looked and then looked back at The Doctor, who was now inside the coffee shop at the counter, counting out money.It appeared that was what he was doing, anyway.He was emptying his pockets of coins and bills that seemed to be all sizes and shapes but none were British coins or pound notes.Strike stepped up to the counter and ordered three coffees for them and paid.Then he handed a coffee to Robin and one to The Doctor.The Doctor thanked him and shoved all the odd money back into his pocket again.</p><p>“Let’s sit at the table by the window,” Strike suggested.“If we are watching what happens here, we need to be able to see.”They all sat.Strike asked Robin which flat across the street was hers.She pointed it out.They all sat, The Doctor with a discarded newspaper he had picked up from a neighboring table that he appeared to be reading.Robin whispered to Strike, “Am I dreaming?”He shook his head.“I think we just traveled through time.”Robin felt confused.She looked out the window at her flat and was astonished to see herself leaving it.Her other self walked down the stairs to an old Land Rover, unlocked the door, and climbed inside, driving away toward the local grocery store. </p><p>“How long will you be gone?” Strike asked her.He was accepting this whole thing as normal easier than Robin was.</p><p>“Usually two hours,” was her answer.Strike looked at his watch and they waited.Robin wondered if she was dead.After about 15 minutes a cab pulled up in front of Robin’s building, and a blonde got out.Robin’s eyes narrowed.Strike noticed.“Recognize the blonde?”</p><p>“Matt cheated on me with her when they were at uni together.He swore it was over.”</p><p>Strike suggested they wait and see.The Doctor put down his newspaper, and with the air of someone commenting on the weather, said, “You can’t be in the same place with your future self without causing harm to the space/time continuum, but you can certainly interact with other people, even if they are operating in the future and you are only here because you are with me.” </p><p>“Who are you?” Strike asked.</p><p>“I’m The Doctor.I’m a Time Lord, the last of the Time Lords, actually.The TARDIS and I travel here and there in the universe, past and future, doing this and that.”</p><p>Robin digested that.The Tardis must be the police box.Strike looked at his watch again.“How do you want to handle this, Robin?” he asked.“Confront your boyfriend?Watch and wait?”</p><p>“Confrontation, I think,” she said. </p><p>“Then we need to wait a few more minutes, just in case she dropped by to borrow a cup of sugar.”Robin shrugged.After a few more minutes, Strike stood.Robin stood up also but The Doctor didn’t move. </p><p>“I’ll stay here with my newspaper,” he told them.“When you are ready come get me and I’ll take you back to last Tuesday.”He said it as if he was offering them a ride to the park. </p><p>Strike and Robin crossed the street.She took out her keys and opened the flat door.She could hear voices in the bedroom, so she walked down the hall toward them.“You are so beautiful,” Matt said. </p><p>“Mummmmmm,” said Sarah Shadlock.“Better than that cow you are engaged to?”</p><p>“Much better,” said Matthew.Robin threw the bedroom door open all the way.Her boyfriend was naked, screwing an equally naked Sarah Shadlock.Robin removed her engagement ring and dropped it into the trash bin.Strike was behind her, taking photos of the horrified pair.Robin walked to the closet door and opened it, then removed Matt’s clothing from the hangers.When she had an armful, she dumped it all out the back window and went for more.Strike stood and watched her, silent.She had a thought; he was there to protect her.She’d never been afraid of Matt before but he was yelling at the top of his lungs now.She was glad she wasn’t alone.However that wasn’t stopping her.</p><p>Robin dumped more of Matt’s clothing out the back window and tossed Sarah’s clothing after it.Matt grabbed her arm but hurriedly let go of it when Strike growled.Robin was now dumping underwear and socks outside.When she had tossed all his clothes she could find out the window, she went through the laundry basket and dumped all his dirty clothes.</p><p>“Get out,” she told Matt.“And take Sarah with you.I’m done with you.”Robin turned on her heel and walked out of the flat, Strike behind her.She crossed the street in a daze, muttering “I’m having a nightmare.”The Doctor was standing in the door of the coffee shop, watching them as Strike herded her across the street.</p><p>The Doctor said, “Let’s go get ice cream.”</p><p>Strike and Robin followed him back to the blue police box.He unlocked the door and politely stood aside for them to proceed him inside.Robin was crying by this point.Strike took her in his arms so she sobbed on his chest, while he stroked her hair and whispered words of comfort.He continued to hold her as the magic box roared and shuddered, taking them back to Tuesday.</p><p>When they exited the police box this time, they found themselves in Edinburgh, standing in front of Mary’s Milk Bar.The Doctor said, “Best ice cream on this planet” before he went into the shop.A woman with red hair was behind the counter, just setting out a container of salted caramel.She looked up and smiled. “Hi, Doctor.What do you want to try today?” she asked in a Yorkshire accent.</p><p>The Doctor chose Tea + Jam.Strike had Orange Chocolate Sorbet while Robin picked Dark Chocolate Hazelnut.Strike tried to pay but Mary (for it was Mary herself) told them it was on the house. They took their ice creams outside and sat on a bench, looking at the castle.Robin felt exhausted but at peace.The Doctor stretched his feet out in front of him and finished his cone.Strike had already eaten his.Robin licked her spoon clean, then disposed of her paper cup and plastic spoon.The Doctor rose and they followed him back to the police box.Once again he unlocked the door and opened it for them.Robin and Strike went inside and held to one of the railings as the box took them wherever they would end up next.</p><p>It turned out to be Denmark Street’s back alley.Strike and Robin walked out of the police box and found themselves next to the garbage again.The Doctor stood in the door of the police box, his hands back in his pockets, looking at them with his sad, wise eyes.“Go home, children,” he said. </p><p>“I don’t have a home any more,” Robin told him.</p><p>“Then go home with Strike.You two are meant for one another.” </p><p>“Is that really why you brought me here to Strike’s office?”</p><p>“Yes, you need each other.But whatever happens, remember to have ice cream.”</p><p>And with that The Doctor stepped back into the police box and shut the door.Robin and Strike stood shoulder to shoulder, watching it fade out of sight, then Strike took her hand and together they walked through the alley toward his office.“Want to get something to eat before you go to your place and get your things?” he asked. </p><p>“Yes,” she replied.“But maybe not ice cream right now.”Together they walked into Tuesday night and their own set of adventures.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I wrote several short pieces in August to publish after Trouble Blood comes out so that I could have true spoiler-free writings to keep everyone entertained.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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